[noopster]

This report has been jointly compiled with Vid6639. Credit to him for shooting the pictures as well. Thank you!

[noopster]

Since the Ford Fiesta has already been reviewed by Team-BHP, this report will only focus on changes made to the 2014 car. For easy reference, here are direct links to the complete Fiesta road-test:

Exterior Design & Build Quality

Interior design, space, practicality & features

Engine, gearbox, suspension & on-road behaviour

Other Pertinent Points

The Smaller & Significant Things

[noopster]

Ford launched the new Fiesta as its first "One Ford" global car in June 2011. The Fiesta had both, petrol (manual & AT) and diesel engine options. At launch, the Fiesta petrol was pricier than the Honda City, while the diesel was more expensive than the VW Vento TDI! Add to that, the spartan rear seat forced those looking for a chauffeured-sedan to drop Ford from their consideration set completely. The Fiesta sank to the bottom of the sales charts.

This facelift is Ford's attempt to give the Fiesta a much needed shot in the arm. Along with a design improvement also comes a price correction; the 2014 Fiesta is placed about a lakh lower than the older car and is now the cheapest C2 sedan. Ford has thrown in some new equipment as well.

The petrol engine is history. The older Fiesta was powered by a 1.5L Duratec petrol making 108 horses and 140 Nm of torque. It barely made a dent in the market. Ford has chosen to put its money on the 1.5L diesel only. I think this may be a missed opportunity. First of all, the market is showing an increasing affinity towards petrol engines as the gap between petrol <-> diesel prices slowly but inexorably closes. The second factor is the emergence of the automatic transmission as an increasingly preferred choice for urban drivers. Personally, I'd have loved to see a Fiesta with the 1.0L EcoBoost engine and DCT.

Rear is far better now, and doesn't look as ungainly as on the pre-facelift. Some design cues clearly picked up from the (USA) Ford Focus. All new boot-lid, tail-lamps & more:


Not too different from the side. Only way you can tell it's the facelift is the front end & alloy wheel design:


Aston Martin grille brings immense character:


New headlamps are all silver. We miss the 'smoked' effect of the earlier version:


Foglamp surround receives a piano-black finish. Notice the new wind deflector; it's part of the aero package and runs all the way up (to the front of the tyres):


Close up of the Ford badge. The logo now sits flush. This is a global change you'll see on other Fords soon:


The creases of the new bonnet & the 'power bulge' in the center. In this pic, you can also see the subtle kink of the radiator grille slats:


New 5-spoke rims. A simple design that I liked, but Vid6639 didn't. The car's length has increased by 29 mm and all of it seems to have gone to the front. Just look at that overhang!! It bears some similarity to the Grande Punto:


Frameless wipers usually seen on premium cars. Good that Ford hasn't skimped on these (the EcoSport uses a cheaper variety). Wish the new bonnet didn't wear these washer nozzles on top anymore:


ORVMS are slightly redesigned and get puddle lamps too. These lights activate when you lock / unlock the car:


Both front doors get a request sensor. As long as the keyfob is in your pocket, simply press to open:


Another look at the rear profile:


Electric boot release button located under the badge:


Redesigned tail-lamps stretch more inwards. Each now has a reversing light & foglamp (unlike the pre-facelift which had reverse on one side and the foglamp on the other):


Integrated boot lip spoiler protrudes out noticeably:


Spoiler is much wider and runs the length of the boot:


The 2014 Fiesta gets 4 parking sensors (earlier model had 3). Blackened out portion to break the bumper's sheer bulk. The chrome strip is new, while the reflectors have moved up:


Funky mudflap design. Might be part of the aero package:


Golden bronze, the stunning new colour option. Strangely, the Kinetic Blue of our test car doesn't even feature on the brochure or website (link)!!

[noopster]

With the Fiesta facelift, the dashboard's colour has changed. It's now a black top with a light grey bottom. Does brighten the interior up, especially when compared to the (older) dark coloured scheme:


The same steering, but with subtle changes...


...a side shot showing the insert's brushed chrome finish (very aluminium-ish). In the pre-facelift, this area wore mundane silver paint:


The LHS steering-mounted controls now have a center button for 'voice control' (earlier located on the indicator stalk). The RHS cruise control buttons are the same:


The instrument console's illumination has changed from red to a more neutral blue:


The MID is new & has different fonts too. It gets a (very welcome) temperature gauge. Unlike the EcoSport however, there's no real-time fuel efficiency meter:


Piano black finish applied over the center console (earlier, silver). It's quite the fingerprint magnet:


A close look at the cellphone-style headunit (next post covers it in detail):


Climate control in piano black as well. Unlike the EcoSport, 'recirculation' mode remains selected even after you switch the car off / on. Yep, they fixed this bug with the Fiesta:


Keyless go! No need to take the smartkey out of your pocket. Simply press the clutch and hit the engine start / stop button. If you press it without any clutch pedal input, the car will enter 'accessory' mode:


Smartkey is similar to the EcoSport's. Difference is, the 3rd button has a marking for the boot; this button is also easy to press (not so with the EcoSport):


Supremely comfortable front seats...among the best in the business. Side bolstering is fantastic. What's more, the seat's height & travel adjustment range is enormous:


Light grey upholstery. Funny crooked lines replace the (earlier) unsightly honeycomb pattern:


Piano black grab handle, chrome on the door lever and "light earth" grey in the recessed part of the doorpad make for a superior overall look (older doorpad was dead boring). Must be added that some drivers will find the power window controls to be too far back:


Euro-style control knob for the headlights. The "A" (final marking on the knob) is an added setting for the automatic headlamp feature. The rightmost knob adjusts the brightness levels of the instrument console:


'Voice control' button used to be here (moved to the steering wheel now):


Front map lights receive orange LEDs for ambient lighting:


Sensor panel for the auto headlamp & rain sensing wiper is located behind the IRVM. It's rather big and prominent:


Rear doorpad gets that 'light grey' touch too. No cushioning at all though, it's only hard plastics here! Too bad for your forearms:


Ford claims that all of the door rubber seals have been beefed up. NVH levels are excellent (unlike the Vento & City diesels):


Rear seat isn't spacious, a significant disadvantage of the Fiesta. Lighter colour makes it feel airier than before:


Ford claims these rear neck restraints have been redesigned. We didn't find anything different about them:


The rear armrest's exposed hinges are still a pain (literally). They stick out like a sore thumb, and can foul with your elbows:


Rear bench gets a nifty ceiling lamp:


Rear seatbelts fit neatly into this receptacle (when not in use):


Night-time shot of the blue backlighting (earlier red). Notice the ambient lighting in the footwells:

[noopster]

The Ford + Microsoft SYNC Interface

The pre-facelift Fiesta's system, even with voice controls & bluetooth connectivity, was not a SYNC unit. SYNC made its Indian debut with the EcoSport. The 2014 Fiesta now gets SYNC plus Ford's AppLink system, which lets you control mobile apps running on your smartphone via voice commands. This is basically an upgraded version of the system available in the EcoSport, and Ford officials hinted that Applink will make its way to the EcoSport soon. Unfortunately, existing EcoSport owners won't be able to upgrade, as the Applink-enabled system runs off different hardware.

Ford has an AppLink development center at Shanghai. India is the first market where Ford has launched AppLink, with 3 more (Taiwan, New Zealand and Thailand) in the pipeline. Interestingly, although the launch event itself was themed "Stay Connected 24/7", the Fiesta owner's handbook made no mention of AppLink at all, leading us to believe this was a fairly recent addition.

All that's required is a paired Smartphone and you're ready to go. SYNC recognises 150 voice commands and a variety of accents. The system had no problem deciphering Vid6639's "Ford-friendly" accent, albeit it struggled a bit with my more Indian tone! We had a lot of fun using the SYNC system to play our music, get information on nearby landmarks and find, select & call restaurants. SYNC also does other stuff like making & receiving phone calls, reading aloud SMS text messages, sending SMS (from a predetermined list of 15 responses), browsing through your music, playing by artist / album and more...all via voice commands or the navigation buttons of the console. One misses the ability to control the air-conditioner via voice commands; this was possible in the older Fiesta.

The buttons provided for up, down and sideways navigation are a bit clunky, while the center "OK" button is considerably elevated (as compared to the EcoSport). You might just prefer to make voice commands instead of using these buttons.

Additional noteworthy points:

• SYNC with Applink requires you to install the App (e.g. MapMyIndia, CricInfo, Glympse) on your smartphone. Currently available for Android & iOS.
• The system uses your cellphone's data connection.
• Ford says it uses GPS, but we didn't see a GPS antenna?! Figured that the GPS on your smartphone needs to be enabled, else it'll depend on (less accurate) cell towers to determine your location.
• Like the EcoSport, in case of an accident where the airbags deploy or fuel cutoff is activated, the system places a call to local authorities (via 108 in India), and conveys your GPS coordinates to them.
• Developers can add new apps using the AppLink developer program (link to website).
• There are rumours that Ford ditched Microsoft SYNC in USA because the system was slow, and not as easy to operate as the competition's. Apparently, Ford is considering a 'QNX based system' from RIM (Blackberry). SYNC will still be supported in existing cars and the apps are 3rd party developed, so no problems there.
• Full SYNC Review (Ford EcoSport : Official Review).

Unlike the EcoSport, the "OK" button is raised, making it less friendly to operate. Vid6639 pointed this out to a Ford engineer; he showed us how you don't really need to press the button on the arrow. You can tip it like a small joystick!


USB and Aux-in ports are still next to the 12V socket. However, they swap positions and a "SYNC Microsoft" logo is now pasted above them:


Settings overview:


The SYNC system offers an interesting "EcoMode" functionality which measures & rates the driving style on 3 aspects: Gearshifts, anticipation and speed. You get instant feedback on how good (or bad) you are driving with respect to the environment. Neat party trick!


The more the petals you score, the greener you're driving:




We once drove in 'pedal to the metal' mode and ended up with a single petal


Customisation options for the rain sensor, ORVM auto-fold feature and lane change indicator. The rain sensing (automatic) wiper has to be enabled from here only (there's no 'auto' button on the wiper stalk):


The Applink menu:


The 2014 Fiesta offers support for the following apps: Explore by MapMyIndia, ESPN CricInfo and Glympse for real-time location sharing. The first two are India-specific:


The MapMyIndia Explore app is useful. Here, we are searching for religious centers nearby:


The search takes about 5 - 10 seconds (depending on your data connection's speed):


Displaying a list of temples close by. Without doubt, a true navigation-based headunit would be preferred. With SYNC, the maps are still on your phone's display and you need to refer to that for directions:


Since it was past lunchtime, we went for the obvious:


List of restaurants:


The system speaks out the restaurant's name, address, cuisine it serves, hours of operation and approximate cost of meal (for 2)! You can ask SYNC to call the restaurant too:

[noopster]

• Same 1.5L diesel with 90 BHP (@ 3750 rpm) and 204 Nm max torque (@ 2000 - 2750 rpm) on tap. The Fiesta petrol is no longer on sale:


• The Fiesta diesel's ARAI rating has improved from 23.5 to 25.01 kpl. Some tuning & the new aero package (cuts drag by up to 3%, according to Ford) might be responsible:


• No change in driveability, the engine remains very tractable.

• The suspension has been slightly tweaked & the bushings are stiffer on the facelift. We found the Fiesta to offer an excellent ride & handling package.

• Ford claims that the EPS has been tweaked. We were apprehensive...memories of the EcoSport's Hyundai-like steering haunted us. Happy to report that the EPS feels the same as on the pre-facelift Fiesta. It's light at low speeds and weighs up brilliantly on the highway. The best EPS this side of 20 lakhs, and far superior to that of the EcoSport.

Disclaimer : Ford invited Team-BHP for the Fiesta event. They covered all the travel expenses.

[Vid6639]

Prices are quite shocking. It's almost a lakh down on the outgoing Fiesta. Suddenly it is the cheapest C2 segment car from being the most expensive!

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Prices are quite shocking. It's almost a lakh down on the outgoing Fiesta. Suddenly it is the cheapest C2 segment car from being the most expensive!

I think the prices are now almost at par with the ecosport spec to spec. I can see many ecosport booking migrating to the fiesta if GC is not a big consideration.

I myself have an TDCI Titanium booked and might cancel the booking considering I love the looks of the new car from the front.

Just confused whether the titanium or the ambiente are better value for money.

[yash1229]

Is there not going to be a Petrol version even in the future? The new Fiesta looks like a cracker but, it's such a shame that it's diesel only.

[arnabchak]

Shocking prices.

But the challenge is for how long will Ford keep these so called "introductory prices" or do we see another ala Eco Sport type multiple price revisions the moment Fiesta generates some foot falls to the showroom.

A feature list would be highly welcome.

[anachronix]

Good job Ford! I hope this will help the Fiesta brand live for some more time and keep the petroheads happy

Checked out the car in person today morning, the interior feels a lot better now and the alloy wheels which looked awful in the pictures looked quite sporty on a white car.

Some pictures

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by anachronix

...Checked out the car in person today morning, the interior feels a lot better now and the alloy wheels which looked awful in the pictures looked quite sporty on a white car...

They could have added another Rs. 1000/- to the price and did something about those back seat arm rest - exposed hinges. These are tiny things which project a "premium / budget" feel depending on how it is done.

[Motormania]

Good pricing by Ford. Though I personally liked the old front end of the Fiesta, I am extremely happy they have provided ABS+EBD+Airbag as standard feature.

Slowly and steadily, hope people will start appreciating these features over a Bluetooth or steering mounted controls!

[ToyotaFan]

I find the ambiente pretty VFM. I wanted to know if there are any touch screen HU with navigation available that will be suitable to this dash. Because with airbags and ABS present on the base variant I think going with aftermarket alloys and HU leaves only convenience features like Push button start and auto headlamps and wipers and some body colored bits that one loses out on. I would love to know if anyone can help me with this else the Titanium with the sync it is.

[djay99]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

I find the ambiente pretty VFM. I wanted to know if there are any touch screen HU with navigation available that will be suitable to this dash. Because with airbags and ABS present on the base variant I think going with aftermarket alloys and HU leaves only convenience features like Push button start and auto headlamps and wipers.

Remember that Ambiente which is a base model has only driver side airbag and not passenger Airbag. IMO its better to opt for higher variants for more safety.